Fengliu Mountain, 1,729 meters tall and stretching 517 meters, stood in North Rukongai's 61st District.
It was the tallest peak in the area—and also the famous training ground chosen for this Soul Society session of the Hirutsuki Class.
Higashino Shuuichi stood at the foot of the mountain and looked up. As the Hirutsuki Class' only instructor, this evaluation mission had been completely designed by him alone.
"Time really flies…"
He thought back over everything that had happened in the last seven years. Because Aizen's battle had wiped out most of Hueco Mundo's fighting strength, Soul Society had enjoyed a rare seven-year window of rest and recovery.
Kurotsuchi Mayuri had used that time to steadily advance the Mod-Soul Project, and they were now about to begin the second phase of testing.
According to the plan, since the first phase had already confirmed that the technical direction was correct, the focus of this second stage would be testing the degree of soul-level compatibility among the modified souls, and how well this technology allowed them to release and guide reiatsu.
Barring surprises, this stage of testing would require Lieutenant- and even Captain-class combat power to participate.
And for the test to remain controllable, it would be best if no more than two official Captains of Soul Society took part.
Originally, Higashino Shuuichi had been planning to join in himself.
Given his current level, it wouldn't be difficult for him to restrain his own strength and maintain the output of a "typical Captain-class" reiatsu.
Unfortunately, just recently, Shiba Kuukaku had finally sent him a piece of good news, forcing him to plan on entrusting the latter half of the experiment entirely to Kurotsuchi Mayuri and Yushima Ōko.
Yes—after more than seven full years of work, Shiba Kuukaku had, through her own efforts alone, finally completed the construction of that cannon leading to the Soul King Palace.
And in all that time, she hadn't allowed Higashino Shuuichi to take part in the process in the slightest.
All of Aizen's schemes had, for once, fallen flat in front of this woman who looked rough on the outside and seemed careless, yet was in fact razor sharp.
Over the last seven years, no matter how subtly Higashino Shuuichi tried to win her over, even going so far as to invite her several times to stroll together through First District Rukongai—which made Soi Fon grind her teeth in envy—Shiba Kuukaku still refused to budge. Their relationship seemed stuck at the level of "good friends."
Fortunately, Aizen hadn't dumped the blame on him. Aizen continued to believe that the real reason lay in the fact that the Shiba family had not been kicked out of the Five Great Noble Houses, and the pressure bearing down on Kuukaku was simply not great enough.
Because of that, Higashino Shuuichi had originally not included Shiba Kaien on the list of names he planned to boost through the Hirutsuki Class. But one night, Aizen had come to him and told him to invite Shiba Kaien into the class.
The purpose behind that was practically self-evident.
Because of Higashino Shuuichi's special status, as well as the fundamental reason for the Hirutsuki Class' establishment, this special Shinigami advancement class—founded off the tremendous prestige he had earned by slaying Baraggan, the former ruler of Hueco Mundo—had possessed, from the outset, extremely broad freedom of action. In that respect, it was similar to the Katana-gari-shū under Higashino Shuuichi's command, which still officially had zero members.
In principle, as long as he didn't blatantly order the Hirutsuki members to do anything openly treasonous against Soul Society, Higashino Shuuichi could send these Shinigami to do almost anything under the pretext of "missions."
That of course included arranging for Shiba Kaien to "reasonably" run into danger.
For a man with Kyōka Suigetsu and another with a wealth of planning and execution experience, such a setup was hardly difficult.
Higashino Shuuichi did sympathize with Shiba Kaien's future misfortune—but that didn't mean he would prevent that tragedy from happening.
There weren't many people who were targeted by Aizen so many times. If Shiba Kaien could have changed his surname to Kurosaki, that would practically be protagonist treatment.
Unfortunately, Shiba Kaien wasn't. His identity, the Shiba family's control over the technology to reach the Soul King Palace, and so on… all of it had already decided his fate.
The old saying "a man's wealth is his own guilt" fit him perfectly.
And this evaluation was the plate of dumplings that Aizen and Higashino Shuuichi had painstakingly prepared… for that one little dish of vinegar.
As the sun rose, morning light bathed the land. White clouds drifted across the sky like boats gliding over a lake, leaving wispy trails across the blue.
The members of the Hirutsuki Class began to arrive one after another.
The earliest to come—and by far the most enthusiastic—was, unsurprisingly, that bald guy, Madarame Ikkaku.
"Everyone else is way too lazy, aren't they? Weren't we told the reward for passing this evaluation would be unprecedented? Do none of them care at all?"
Ikkaku had just landed from a burst of shunpo (flash step). Seeing only Higashino Shuuichi waiting at the base of the mountain, he immediately started grumbling.
"In fact, we're the ones who are early, Ikkaku. Shuuichi-sensei agreed on ten o'clock with us, and there are still twenty minutes until ten."
Trailing behind Ikkaku, Ayasegawa Yumichika landed lightly.
With his stronger learning and comprehension ability, Yumichika had easily absorbed the things Shuuichi had taught them over the last seven years—among them some knowledge of the World of the Living, such as how to tell time.
He had checked with the pocket watch in his hand.
Shuuichi had given one of these to every Shinigami in the Hirutsuki Class, but only a small handful carried theirs all the time.
"So what? If they're slower than me, they're late! Especially that guy… what was his name again? Oh, right—Iba Tetsuzaemon! Our last spar still hasn't settled who won. Yumichika, you'd better help me catch him later—today I'm definitely going to settle things with him!"
Ikkaku rubbed his shining bald head as he spoke.
Seven years had been enough for him to truly understand the gulf between himself and Higashino Shuuichi. At first, Ikkaku had stubbornly clung to his spirit of "get back up where you fell so you can fall there again," challenging Shuuichi over and over.
It wasn't until two years ago, when Higashino Shuuichi finally had enough, that he invited a Shinigami named Iba Tetsuzaemon to join the Hirutsuki Class and gave Ikkaku a brand-new, suitable opponent.
Fighting Shuuichi meant nothing but getting thrashed; fighting Iba Tetsuzaemon, the two of them could go back and forth. Even an idiot would know which matchup to pick.
Especially since, after one of their spars, Ikkaku had learned from Iba that his mother had died in the Hollowfication incident involving Higashino Shuuichi, Urahara Kisuke, and the others who had become "traitors."
Although Shuuichi kept insisting he had been framed, Iba Tetsuzaemon believed only in the judgment of the Gotei 13.
As long as the Head-Captain didn't personally acknowledge Higashino Shuuichi's innocence, Iba would keep blaming the deaths of his mother and the others on Urahara Kisuke, Higashino Shuuichi, and that group of "defector Shinigami."
And yet Iba was conflicted. Having fully inherited his mother's beliefs, he had always taken "upholding justice" as his life's motto.
Looking at Higashino Shuuichi's life as a Shinigami in its entirety, Iba had to admit that aside from that supposed defection incident, Shuuichi was the Shinigami who most matched his personal image of true justice.
So after receiving Shuuichi's invitation, Iba Tetsuzaemon had spent nearly a full year torn in thought before finally deciding to join the Hirutsuki Class.
At the same time, he never gave up on his goal of defeating Higashino Shuuichi and forcing the truth of that night out of his mouth.
From Ikkaku's perspective, that was perfect.
"Bro, I've set beating Higashino Shuuichi as my life goal too. How about we work together and get strong enough to knock him off his high horse as soon as possible?"
If Ikkaku had to pick two people he valued most in the Hirutsuki Class, one would undoubtedly be Ayasegawa Yumichika, and the other would absolutely be Iba Tetsuzaemon.
And speak of the devil—he appears.
Right after Ikkaku and Yumichika arrived, Iba Tetsuzaemon also descended from the sky.
Underneath, he wore the standard Shinigami shihakushō, and over it he had thrown on the uniform of his family's dōjō. A pair of trendy sunglasses perched on his nose, and his hair was styled into a long pompadour. With his zanpakutō resting on his shoulder, he sauntered up to the foot of the mountain.
"I'm here, Grand Blade-Hunting Chief Shuuichi!"
Iba called out to Higashino Shuuichi.
He was, up to now, the only member of the Hirutsuki Class who still used that distant, formal title for Higashino Shuuichi.
Shuuichi didn't blame him. He knew that this was simply Iba's way of constantly reminding himself not to forget his mother's death.
After all, for Soul Society, the events of that night when so many Captains and Lieutenants underwent Hollowfication on their respective battlefields were a complete black box.
Those with real knowledge of what had happened had awakened already in the World of the Living and learned that they had become traitors to Soul Society.
So from Soul Society's point of view, the truth of Iba Tetsuzaemon's mother's death remained, to this day, an unresolved mystery without solid evidence.
"Perfect timing. Before the exam starts, let's finish the match we left hanging last time!"
The moment Ikkaku saw Iba, he rushed straight at him, and the two of them started fighting in front of Higashino Shuuichi without a word.
Only Ayasegawa Yumichika shot Shuuichi an apologetic look.
His eyes clearly said:
"Can't be helped—that's just how Ikkaku is."
While Ikkaku and Iba's battle was in full swing, another pair of figures dropped down from midair.
"Shuuichi-sama, I'm so sorry we're late! It's just that today is Fourth Division's training day, and as Third Seat I had to sort out everyone's assignments before I could come…"
The one who spoke, a woman with part of her hair tied back with a band into a side ponytail, rushed up to Shuuichi the moment she landed and apologized in a panic. This was Kotetsu Isane.
"It's fine. It's not even the scheduled time yet; you don't need to apologize to me."
Seeing how flustered she was, Higashino Shuuichi smiled, shook his head, and tried to put her at ease.
The Kotetsu sisters really did have completely different personalities. As the elder sister, Isane was almost too timid. By comparison, he actually preferred Kotetsu Kiyone's type—unfortunately, Kiyone's eyes contained only her Captain, Ukitake, and no one else.
"But where's your Vice-Captain, Yamada Seinosuke? Shouldn't this kind of thing be his responsibility? Don't tell me he's vanished again?"
Shuuichi went on to ask.
Because of a certain woman, he had always deliberately kept his distance from Fourth Division business to avoid trouble. But when he'd trained Kotetsu Isane's kaidō (healing arts) up to Lieutenant level, he couldn't help but learn a great deal about the state of Fourth Division from her.
Ever since Yamada Seinosuke had taken over his old post as Vice-Captain, he had been trying to solidify his legitimacy by enforcing a "Kaidō First" principle in Fourth Division.
In other words, the status of a Fourth Division member was no longer determined by overall strength, but by their kaidō proficiency.
So even though Kotetsu Isane's battle strength was still far from Vice-Captain level, her extraordinary talent in kaidō had let her quickly secure the position of Third Seat within Fourth Division.
If Isane had any desire to climb higher, then with her current mastery of kaidō, it wouldn't be impossible for her to replace Yamada Seinosuke.
Because Higashino Shuuichi now possessed the complete advanced kaidō knowledge Kirinji Tenjirō had passed on to him, when it came to the usage and application of kaidō—ignoring zanpakutō abilities—there was no one in Soul Society today who could surpass him. If he called himself second, no one would dare claim first. Not even Unohana Retsu.
So Shuuichi had long since noticed that Yamada Seinosuke had the baffling habit of skipping many of Fourth Division's major events.
That was completely at odds with Shuuichi's fixed impression of him.
In his memory, Yamada Seinosuke was supposed to be a Shinigami who strove to do everything perfectly in hopes of earning Unohana Retsu's attention.
This current version, half-hearted at work and even outright absent at times—"strange" didn't even cover it. Shuuichi would honestly believe it if someone told him the guy had been possessed.
But Higashino Shuuichi had far too many things on his plate these days. He really didn't have the energy to look into what exactly was going on with Yamada Seinosuke.
Besides, if even he could feel that something was off, then as Fourth Division's Captain, Unohana Retsu should be even more aware of it.
Uh… although that woman apparently didn't really manage things much either.
So even if she did know, would it actually matter?
Higashino Shuuichi suddenly realized there was a blind spot in his thinking.
He never forgot that Unohana Retsu was extremely intelligent—a consummate schemer.
But he kept overlooking the fact that although she hid herself well, she also didn't interfere. When something came up, she really did just keep it locked in her heart and stayed silent.
In the original flow of events, she had, purely by her own intuition and investigation, already guessed the truth of Aizen's faked death.
And she hadn't exposed him. She'd just… watched.
"Seems like once this is over, I'll have to ask Aizen to look into Yamada Seinosuke."
With his current identity, Higashino Shuuichi wasn't well-positioned to conduct any serious investigation into an official Vice-Captain of the Fourth Division. But Aizen was a different story. For him, something like that would be child's play.
While Shuuichi was thinking about launching a thorough check on Yamada Seinosuke after this, the other Shinigami who had arrived with Kotetsu Isane crossed her arms and spoke in a cool, businesslike tone:
"Captain Kyoraku said that the reward for your exam this time is a one-hundred-percent guarantee that you will teach a Shinigami Bankai (final release) and help them become a Captain?"
There was no question that this was Ise Nanao, the nominal Captain's assistant and de facto Vice-Captain of the Eighth Division.
She was also one of the very few Shinigami who still addressed Higashino Shuuichi as "Captain."
Mainly because her own Captain, Kyoraku Shunsui, called him that.
It showed that, in Kyoraku Shunsui's heart, he still regarded Higashino Shuuichi as part of the Gotei 13.
Kyoraku might always be putting on that carefree playboy act, but Shuuichi knew how much thought went into even that simple form of address.
For most Shinigami, something like that would have been deeply moving.
If Kyoraku Shunsui really did become Head-Captain someday, there was a real chance someone might be swayed back to the Gotei 13 by that alone.
Unfortunately, Higashino Shuuichi wasn't an ordinary Shinigami.
Kyoraku's heartfelt intentions were destined to go to waste on him.
"What's wrong? If I remember right, Nanao, you don't have a zanpakutō, do you?
That guy Shunsui put you in my class just so you could learn Kidō (demon arts) from me. I don't imagine you have much use for mastering Bankai, right?"
Shuuichi chuckled as he replied, neither denying nor confirming the claim—thus tacitly acknowledging it.
After former Grand Kidō Chief Tsukabishi Tessai and Deputy Kidō Chief Ushōda Hachigen fled to the World of the Living with Urahara Kisuke, Soul Society's Kidō system hadn't been completely destroyed, but it was fair to say that there were very few true masters left.
Aside from a few of the older Captains, among the new generation of Shinigami—leaving out that "ordinary" Captain Aizen—Higashino Shuuichi was indeed the only one whose Kidō level could really be taken seriously.
"I'm just curious. Captain Kyoraku said that when it comes to helping Shinigami grasp Bankai, you haven't even told Captain Soi Fon the method, let alone him. But he firmly believes you would never brag without backing it up. If you say you can do it, then you definitely can.
So Captain wanted me to witness it for myself."
Ise Nanao pushed her glasses up and explained her purpose in coming to Shuuichi.
After all, Higashino Shuuichi hadn't specifically invited her to take part in this exam.
Even if she was a member of the Hirutsuki Class.
"I see. Well, that's fine. Just watch from the sidelines when the time comes."
Shuuichi answered without hesitation.
It wasn't some big secret, anyway. He figured that once Urahara Kisuke and the others finally made it back from the West Administration, Shihōin Yoruichi would soon start sneaking into Soul Society to scout out the situation.
When she did, the first people she would contact would definitely be Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jūshirō.
All Kyoraku had to do was mention the matter in passing, and Yoruichi would immediately grasp what was going on.
After all, Higashino Shuuichi had asked Aizen to use Kurotsuchi Mayuri and Tokinada Tsunayashiro to gather data for him, and based on the Tenshintai (Divine Transfer Doll) Urahara Kisuke had once developed, he had created a bootleg version of the Tenshintai.
He called it a "bootleg" because, while its functionality was identical to the original, Urahara had hidden the key technical details using some unknown method. As a result, this knockoff Tenshintai could only be used three times, and thanks to the difficulty of obtaining the necessary materials, it would be very hard for Shuuichi and the others to produce a second one.
One of those three uses had, inevitably, been claimed by Tokinada Tsunayashiro. Shuuichi knew that was a waste—Tokinada's own zanpakutō ability was garbage, and he was bound to rely on his family's hereditary divine weapon in the future anyway. So why bother?
But there was nothing Shuuichi could do about it. Tokinada had pulled serious weight for them this time. Without his Eizō Hall, Shuuichi truly wouldn't have been able to get such detailed research data for Aizen.
The second use, Higashino Shuuichi planned to give to Yushima Ōko.
That man's shikai was practically invincible on its own; Shuuichi was very curious to see what his Bankai would look like.
Of course, staying true to his principle of squeezing every last drop of value out of anything useful…
Shuuichi wasn't about to just hand the Tenshintai over to Yushima Ōko for free.
Thus, this exam, jointly "submitted" as a proposal by him and Aizen, had been born.
Granted, the ultimate winner was already as preordained as the champions of those variety shows in his previous life.
But as the saying went, "it's all about the experience."
Higashino Shuuichi guaranteed that every Shinigami who came to "make up the numbers"—uh, participate—in this exam would walk away with an unforgettable memory.
As for the third and final use of the Tenshintai, Shuuichi intended to save it for the next round of evaluations, to motivate even more Shinigami.
His ability to sell dreams was now fully polished.
And besides, this wasn't just empty promises.
Time flowed on. One minute before the scheduled start time, Shiba Kaien finally arrived, a bit out of breath.
"Sorry, Shuuichi-kun, I'm late."
Seeing the crowd of Shinigami already gathered at the foot of the mountain, Kaien knew he was the last to arrive and apologized awkwardly.
Before Shuuichi could reply, Madarame Ikkaku—still riding the high of victory from his finished spar with Iba Tetsuzaemon—jumped in to抢答:
"Kaien, you call that late? There's someone who hasn't even shown his face yet!"
"Huh? Someone still isn't here?"
Kaien, who had likewise rushed over after wrapping up his division's work, hadn't expected anyone to be later than him. A quick glance around told him the answer.
"Ōko? No way. Isn't he usually the first to arrive?"
That casual comment instantly sharpened Higashino Shuuichi's attention.
He knew exactly what Yushima Ōko was busy with today, so it would have been understandable for him to be slightly later than usual—but not to be missing altogether.
"Ōko…"
Higashino Shuuichi's brows drew together in a frown.